The Mad Mick: The Mad Mick Series, Book 1

One fine read. Spoiler alert.This one starts eleven tired woman being escorted to work. The women are prisoners and the man who owns them runs grow houses. The women are used to keep the grow houses producing what the man sells. They are kept barefoot as the area around is rocks and shale with no way for the women to escape. None of the guards touch the women in any way. They are the owners property and are there strictly to keep the grow houses producing.Weeks ago the women has sneaked in poison oak and poison ivy. They extracted the oils and added it to the laundry, which they all do for the guards. The men are now scratching with bloody fingernails as the oils are irritating beyond belief. The two guards are so distracted that the women get the drop on them. Kill them and take their guns. It was well planned and those women back at camp are doing the same. Unfortunately the men were able to over power the women in camp. Killing some. The women on the detail had headed back to assist the camp. On arriving Kellen, the leader, saw the writing on the wall. they had taken everything they could from the guards and Kellen told everyone to run as far away from this camp as they could.The owner Bryan Padowicz is non to pleased. Some of his workers are dead along with some of the guards and others had escaped. He tells Top Cat to get out there and get more women. Women are easier to control so Top Cat heads out with a team to do just that. Lester is his second and the two do not get along but Top Cat is in charge. Now to kidnap more women to use as laborers.All this was possible since the world came crashing down. Bryan could do pretty much as he pleased because there was no more law. It was dog eat dog and Bryan was gong to be the big dog on the block. His goods sold and the women were used to keep the grow houses producing. They also tended the gardens that provided food, did the laundry and anything else that needed doing. They were slaves.Conor Maguire was from Ireland. He grew up during "The troubles." Both his Father and Grandfather were bomb makers for the IRA. Conor learned at their knee. He and his mother migrated to America when things got to hot in Ireland.Conor was married and his wife was killed by a drunk driver. A drunk driver who did spend some time in jail. Not enough as far as Conor was concerned. Once the man was out Conor made a special headrest for his car and switched the one that was there with the one he made. The man blew up nicely. Conor considered that justice had been served. Conor had his daughter Barb to raise on his own as well.Conor also did work for the Govt. Blowing up people paid well. Conor bought an old mine property in Jewel Ridge, Virginia. The company was long gone and the Property had cost millions to build. Conor bought it for a fraction of its value. It was fenced all the way around with ten foot tall barbed wired at the top fencing. There were numerous buildings scattered throughout the property. He and Barb had chickens, goats and hair sheep. They also had a garden and were dong well compared to nearly everyone else after the collapse. Conor was thinking of getting horses from a rescue place down the road. Horses would make getting around much easier than using a bike.Conor and Barb are handy with guns. They both were body armor with ballistic plates front and back. You never know when you will have to defend yourself. Conor is one very capable man and his daughter is right there with him.On this day Barb is going to visit a friend, JoAnn who was going to be doing some late season canning. It was fall and the temps were falling every day. Barb offered to help her with the canning. Conor told Barb to take her full load out. Barb did though she left the plates for her body armor at home. A decision that would come back and bit her.As Barb made her way to JoAnn's she met up with Ragus. Ragus was a young man her Father had taken under his wing when he caught him trying to steal eggs from the hen house. Ragus's Mother died of cancer so he only had himself to take care of. Conor gave him and old Henry rifle, a .22, and showed him how to use it. Ragus was sweet on Barb but Barb was totally oblivious to the young man. Ragus didn't give up hoping though. Ragus was going fishing with a younger kid named Dakota.Barb was nearly to JoAnn's when she heard a gunshot and a blood curdling scream. Barb bolted toward the scream, unslinging her rifle. She flew around the bend of the road without regard for what might be waiting on her. There, the tree lined road opened up around JoAnn's family home. She flicked off the safety and scanned as she moved, not seeing anything that concerned her, thought the screams and yelling had not stopped.The gate to the driveway was hanging open, which was unusual, and she went through it, running up the gravel drive. She was constantly scanning for cover, looking for a place to hid if she came under fire. The scream had turned to sobs and wailing. Once to the house Barb peaked around and saw a man trying to pull JoAnn from her fathers dead body. Her father was in ill health and most of the labor of keeping the farm going went to JoAnn. Barb could see that her father was dead. There was another man who Barb promptly shot and killed. Barb then shot the other man.Barb told JoAnn to get up and get ready to run. As she looked out by the road she saw a line of mounted armed men. Before she could shoot again she was hit by something that knocked down and in extreme pain. She had been hit with an arrow and was now a prisoner just like JoAnn.Regus and Dakota had headed down the road when he heard shots. Ragus knew Barb was involved. He sent Danny to let Conor know and then headed for the sound of the shots. Ragus keeps to the woods and on arrival he see's men, horses and Barb and JoAnn as prisoners. Ragus had told Dakota to find Conor and tell him to get there as soon as he could. Ragus then set about following the men and leaving a trail for Conor to follow. Ragus knows full well Conor will be coming and hell would be visited on the kidnappers.So begins one damned fine read.This one has Conor, Ragus, Barb, Top Cat, Lester, a Ragus who kills men left behind, takes a horse and continues to follow, a Conor who is on the way, killing as he goes, a Barb who manages to get the drop on one guard and almost make it out, another of the women prisoners who was with Lester clubs her over the head, a Lester who is trying to take over from Top Cat, a Ragus who leaves an easy trail of dead bodies for Conor to follow and Conor Maguire killer extraordinaire on his way to rescue his daughter, killer every single man who took her, survive and stay alive.Five Stars

An average book about a small part of the USA after the loss of all infrastructure.it’s… okay. The story is not horrible, the characters are likable in some ways, and the action is well described, but still it is average. The problem is the manyholes that are assumed the reader should understand, such as how the whole government disappeared, how there were no police, no military, no doctors, no vehicles, nothing. Yes, loss of power would cause havoc, but some communities would combine together, some places would still have security, that military bases would still be in place, that doctors would still be around even if hospitals didn’t exist… there is no explanation of where that all went. The only explanation is terrorist attacks, and the description mentioned disease, but the book doesn’t really. It’s a story without a background, without anything to set up a foundation for the storyline to rely on. This causes the book to fail in many ways. Pass on this.

If I could give this book more than 5 stars, I would! Holy cow, what an adventure! Fall in ABSOLUTE LOVE with the 3 main characters as you travel through this story with them. You would swear they are real people, and you are right there with them. Fast paced and very well-written, it is an adventure from the start. Don't plan on setting this book down once you open it, there really aren't any good places to "pause" the story! My only regret with this book is that there isn't more! If you haven't read anything by Franklin Horton, do so! You won't regret it!

Franklin Horton introduced The Mad Mick in a prior book, And now the Mad Mick will take you on a ride with your hair on fire. This is the character of the year, his story will entertain you and make you want more. the reader will not be able to put this book down and will be so captive to the story that you will be screaming for more. one last thing A Legend was born.

The Mad Mick is unrelenting. The action keeps going and the characters develop through their actions. It concerns Conor, the Mad Mick, his daughter, Barb, and a boy named Ragus, along with assorted villains. Although the book is subtitled "book 1" is has an epilogue seeming to tie up many loose ends. I hope it is continued: the main evil empire (The Farm) still exists at the end. It's almost as if the author wasn't sure about whether it should be one book or a series.A few typos: "JoAnn forced herself" I think the author meant Barb. "left vegetation left" cut that first 'left'. And a repeat: "of him of him" along with a couple of others. Lastly, no explanation is given for the power outage. The book starts right in.Horton is a terrific action author and the book is easy to read, even while watching the Red Sox! Very highly recommended.

One thing I’ll give the author is that he’s an accomplished writer, knowing full well how to turn a phrase. I liked the alternating chapters from the different perspectives. The action is top-notch, and the descriptions of the places are vivid. The author also knows his subject material when it comes to the military gear, in some cases spending more time on it than is really necessary. I wish some of that descriptiveness had carried over to the characters, I found myself unable to get a really good picture of them in my head, even 20 chapters in. Where the writing really fell down was in the world building. What attack was it that plunged the world into chaos, and how? Only a few months had passed, but basically everything has shut down and seemingly much of the population is just gone? Sure, what happened maybe wasn’t significant to the story, but at least try to set a believable scene. Overall, the writing was there, but the plot holes and male-fantasy vibe ended up leaving me unsatisfied.

This author has a solid grip on what it takes to engage with the reader - I couldn't put the book down (so good to hear the Mad Mick has his own book). Check out this authors other novels to see how seamlessly he integrates the characters.

I really enjoyed this book. Looking forward to more by this author.

I love this author's stories. His books are a great read!